The present invention relates to a method as well as an adhesive laminate for permanently bonding a rubber air spring to a support sleeve.
Heretofore, air springs have been utilized to cushion the movement between a vehicle axle or wheel and the frame of a vehicle. Typically, the spring has been physically attached to a housing such as a metal sleeve on an axle either by force fit, or by a metal crimping ring, or both. A disadvantage of the force fit was that during handling prior to installation on a vehicle, the air spring would often separate from the metal sleeve and thus had to be reassembled. A disadvantage of the metal crimping ring was that it required additional labor to install and was costly.
A rubber air spring having a bead portion is adhered to a seat portion of a fixturing sleeve. The rubber air spring bead portion has a rubber primer such as trichlorotriazinetrione applied thereto and the sleeve seat has a fixturing primer such as a mixture of chlorosulfonated polyethylene, chlorinated paraffin, and poly(p-dinitrosobenzene) applied thereto. The rubber primer and fixturing primer are chemically bonded or adhered together through the utilization of an adhesive such as an epoxy. A strong bond is formed which is at least twice the force required to hold the air spring in place.